Cylinder 1 and lot's of oil

[mikehiow 0]

I think it's cylinder 1 - bottom right?

 

Anyway, after replacing leads not curing my misfire (This is the third mis-fire I've had now, I've now replaced, leads (dubpower), plugs (stealer - platinum) and coil (again, stealer) in the last two months) - I decided to whip out 1 and 6 and see what they're like.

 

There was a little oil on 6 (top left?), but the plug was overall in great condition, and looking like a 500 mile old plug should.

 

1 Was completely gunked up, and looked more like a 20k plug rather than a 500 mile one.

 

Now, one can only presume this is due to bore wear, and a fair bit of blow-by occurring, so it this really the beginning of the end of this engine?

 

I'll give some 15/40 a go first, but would appreciate any advice here - if the 15/40 fails, should I be starting to look for a new engine (Cleaning the plug every 500 miles is not an option) - or perhaps start thinking about a 24v?

 

I'm guessing the VR6 isn't a cheap engine to rebuild either, especially when it comes to bore wear.